Trade / Comercio

The Star is correct in demanding transparency on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and no on fast track. Democrats and Republicans alike have peddled so-called free trade deals since NAFTA in 1993. There’s a disturbing pattern: 1) The President, and his boosters come up with some phony study promising thousands of new jobs. 2) The media echoes it, but doesn’t fact-check. 3) The President “sells” the deal to members of Congress promising bridges, air force bases, appointments. None reads the FTA to find out that they surrendered our rights to buy locally made goods, protect our resources, stop poisonous food imports or maintain jobs that pay family wages. They never talk about how the shiny new agreement was ghost-written by the biggest corporate lobbyists in the pack. They are silent about ISDS (Investor State Dispute System) which lets foreign corporations overrule our laws in rigged, unaccountable international tribunals. Obama and Republican leaders (with a few Dems too) are now pushing the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Fast Track (Trade Promotion Authority) to grease the wheels for passage. Tell your elected representatives that you’re sick of this free trade swindle. If you work, breath, eat, or believe in self-government, tell them vote NO. Judy Ancel Kansas City, KS